John Patrick Ryan - Indianapolis IN James Walter Cowan - Oaklandon IN Paul Kent Sharp - Indianapolis IN Marilyn Elaine Fess - Indianapolis IN James L. Babcock - Brownsburg IN
Assignee:
Indiana University Foundation - Bloomington IN
International Classification:
A61F 100 A61F 510
US Classification:
3 11
Abstract:
The arm splint of an orthosis is attached to the forearm of a cervical 6 - cervical 7 motor lesion quadraplegic. The arm splint includes a thumb flange for holding the thumb of the patient, and a pivoting finger trough for holding the first and middle fingers of the patient. A Bowden cable is connected to the pivoting finger trough and is operated by a motor to cause the pivoting finger trough to pivot to close towards the thumb flange to provide finger prehension so that the patient can grasp objects. The motor is controlled by control circuitry that is operated by the patient touching a touch sensitive contact that is typically mounted on the arm rest of a wheelchair. The control means and the motor are powered by a twelve-volt car battery carried on the wheelchair. The control means also includes a time delay so that the patient can operate the control means by touching the touch sensitive contact and then move the arm and hand to a position ready for grasping. Subsequent contact with the touch sensitive contact results in reverse operation of the motor so that the grasped object can be released.